The Dorothy James Roberts Papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).

Ownership and Literary Rights

The Dorothy James Roberts Papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.

Cite As

Dorothy James Roberts Papers, The Newberry Library, Chicago.

Processed by

Alexandra Zukas, 2010.

Biography of Dorothy James Roberts

American novelist of Arthurian, Irish, Icelandic, and contemporary fiction.

Dorothy James Roberts was born to West Virginia oil producer James A. Roberts and his wife, Anna Rogers Roberts, on September 5, 1903. Although raised in Ohio, Roberts attended undergraduate school at Barnard College in New York, and later graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, where she studied medieval literature. Prior to publishing her first novel, Roberts worked as a personal assistant, administrative assistant, and teacher of Anglo-Saxon literature.

Roberts began publishing in 1942, when she released
More Than You Promise, a joint effort with author Kathleen Smallzried detailing the history of the Studebaker Corporation. Roberts then moved into fiction, publishing her first novel,
A Man of Malice Landing, in 1943. By 1964, Roberts had produced fourteen published novels (with one,
If a Body Kill a Body, under pseudonym Peter Mortimer). A number of these were based on Arthurian legends, although Roberts also wrote Irish and Icelandic historical fiction, as well as producing contemporary American fiction.

Roberts retired to Palo Alto, California, with Elizabeth Paschal in 1964. She remained active during her retirement, engaging in hobbies such as embroidery and the study of the Japanese language. While she did not publish after 1964, she continued to produce many unpublished manuscripts until her death in February 1990; these most notably include a series of analytical essays about Shakespeare's plays, a novel based on Greek mythology, and her memoirs.

Scope and Content of the Collection

Correspondence, journals, and unpublished manuscripts of Dorothy James Roberts, 1932-1990.

Includes extensive correspondence between Roberts and Bob Clarkson, Richard and John Contiguglia, Elizabeth Paschal, and Joe Tucker on the art of writing. Additionally includes a number of reader letters on the publication of
A Man of Malice Landing in 1943. Collection also includes a large number of unpublished manuscripts written following Roberts's relocation to Palo Alto, California during her retirement in 1964. These manuscripts, written during the last 25 years of Roberts's life, include an analysis of Shakespeare's plays, a fiction novel based on Greek mythology, and Roberts's memoirs.

There are also copyright records, as well as research notes, poetry, speeches, photographs, and a recorded radio interview.

Contains correspondence received by Roberts between 1930 and her death in 1990. Includes significant correspondence from Bob Clarkson, with whom Roberts extensively discussed the art of writing, and with Richard and John Contiguglia, with whom she discussed the study of Shakespeare conducted during her retirement. Additionally includes correspondence with her editor, Alan Williams, condolences sent to Elizabeth Paschal upon Roberts's death, and reader letters written to her after the 1943 publication of
A Man of Malice Landing.

Contains correspondence written by Roberts, including a number of letters to Bob Clarkson, Elizabeth Paschal, and Joe Tucker on the subjects of writing and artistic analysis. Additionally includes correspondence sent to editor Alan Williams regarding a lengthy critique of Joseph Campbell's
Masks of God. Also present are letters written to James A. Roberts, Roberts's father.

Contains bound journals with daily accounts of Roberts's retired life. Many of these journal entries pertain to Roberts's post-retirement literary pursuits and personal pursuits, such as embroidery, teaching creative writing, and learning the Japanese language, as well as her musings on contemporary movies and television. Many of the journals include annotated photographs. Series additionally includes a reading list, kept by Roberts between 1965 and 1975, and a journal from 1946 that contains clippings and Roberts's thoughts on current events, particularly the Nuremburg trials.

Arrangement note

Arranged chronologically.

Journal,3551946Reading list,356July 9, 1965-Dec. 1, 1975Journal,3571975Journal,3581979Journal,3591980Journal, including extensive notes on King Lear and Richard II,4601981Dated by Roberts, but written on pages printed 1982-1983.Journal, including Japanese language exercises,4611982Journal, including extensive notes on Hamlet,4621983Journal,4631987Works, etc.,1932-1989
Scope and Contents note

Contains revisions of Roberts's manuscripts, the majority of these being unpublished manuscripts written during Roberts's retirement. Two of these manuscripts,
Christmas 1910 and
The Willing Slave, are largely autobiographical works. Additionally included in the series are poetry, writing exercises, speeches on the art of writing, and notes on research used while writing The Return of the Stranger and Fire in the Ice.

Contains reviews and publicity materials pertaining primarily to Roberts's first published fiction novel,
A Man of Malice Landing. Additionally included are reviews for
A Durable Fire,
The Enchanted Cup,
Fire in the Ice, and
The Mountain Journey. Series also holds the Martha Kinney Cooper Ohioana Library Award, which Roberts received in 1945 for
A Durable Fire.

Series contains images of Roberts, her twin, Anne, and her Palo Alto home. Also present are images of orchids sent to her by two of her correspondents, Richard and John Contiguglia, and family friends. There is also a reel-to-reel recording of a 1958 WQXR interview in which Roberts participated following the publication of The Return of the Stranger.